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An interesting article recently on Zerohedge, quoting Michael Snyder of the Economic Collapse Blog:
Quote:
#1 According to a survey that was just released, 76 percent of all Americans are living paycheck to paycheck. But most Americans are acting as if their jobs will always be there. But the truth is that mass layoffs can occur at any time. In fact, it just happened at one of the largest law firms in New York City.
#227 percent of all Americans do not have even a single penny saved up.
#346 percent of all Americans have $800 or less saved up.
#5 Wages continue to fall even as the cost of living continues to go up. Today, the average income for the bottom 90 percent of all income earners in America is just $31,244. An increasing percentage of American families are just trying to find a way to survive from month to month.
#6 62 percent of all middle class Americans say that they have had to reduce household spending over the past year.
...
#8 In 1989, the debt to income ratio of the average American family was about 58 percent. Today it is up to 154 percent.
I personally found these figures pretty shocking. Without getting too much into the economic complexities, what are your own spending habits like, and are they typical of the spending habits of other people in your country?
#5 Wages continue to fall even as the cost of living continues to go up.
I think this pretty much sums up why this may be the case. Magnatomicflux, this number seems high but it's really across all income levels. Even people with good paying jobs who own nice homes often are barely getting by believe it or not. My ex girlfriends family is like that. I know of families where both parents work and after they have paid all their bills, made sure their kids are fed, they barely have enough to last between paydays. Granted some of these people can scale down a bit and perhaps consider living in the less than ideal areas to some degree, those families that have three or more school aged children are sort of stuck. Many Americans pay half, or even a bit more than half of their income just on housing. We all strive for the good paying jobs but there are always far more people than jobs available except in a few fields.
I know families who aren't that wealthy but they have a garage full of nice toys like snowmobile, boat, etc....
Interesting paradox how a good proportion of those who appear to be outrageously wealthy, living a fantasy lifestyle frequenting top restaurants, luxurious hotels and exclusive clubs, are actually among the most indebted in terms of their balance sheets, mortgages, loans and accrued credit card bills, proportionate to their income.
Any idiot knows how to spend money, as the saying goes.
I'm not to sure I know anybody living paycheck to paycheck. I'll soon be 70 and I never lived like that.
Your generation, I don't want to say, "had it easier" necessarily but, was able to get more with a dollar than the generations that came after you. At one time in the USA, a single income was enough to support an entire family complete with the house and car. Today both parents work and as soon as their old enough, they get their kids to working just to get by.
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